The Pursuit of History , 2nd edition (New York, 1991): 217-227. History by Word of Mouth John Tosh IV 17. Oral history and oral tradition are considered together in a fruitful way, however, in B. Bernardi, C. Poni and A. Triulzi (eds.) Orali: Antropologia e Storia , Franco Angeli, 1978: some of the major contributions are in English. [end of page 217] material to very good effect.[18] But the greatest challenge to historians has been to equip Africa with a more extended past - to demonstrate that modern Africa, like all other societies, is the outcome of historical processes whose roots lie deep in the past. Given the almost complete ignorance which prevailed only thirty years ago, this has been a formidable undertaking, in which the development of a scholarly approach to oral tradition has featured prominently. 18. John Iliffe (ed.) Modern Tanzanians , East African Publishing House, 1973, includes a number of recorded life-histories. Oral evidence is skilfully woven into Charles Perrings, Black Mineworkers in Central Africa , Heinemann, 1979. | |
|